Cybersecurity in DER-Based Smart Grids with Blockchain and Differential Privacy

The increasing integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) into smart grids has enhanced energy management in power systems. However, this development also makes DERs more vulnerable to cyberthreats through various technical and human vulnerabilities (e.g., the 2015 Ukraine power grid cyberattack). Enhancing the DER-based smart grid’s cyber-resiliency is becoming highly critical and attracts interest from both industry and academia. Existing research has proposed various security frameworks and protective measures, but they neither focus on specific attack vectors nor can provide holistic protection across the full scope of vulnerabilities. To address these critical gaps in grid security, this paper proposes a novel framework that uses blockchain technology and differential privacy to enhance the cybersecurity of DER-based smart grids. The framework includes a lightweight blockchain for dynamic certificate management to enable secure and immutable communication between DER components. Additionally, differential privacy is integrated by adding calculated noise to data (i.e., random values that are intentionally added, anonymizing sensitive data while maintaining utility). Key metrics, such as transaction latency, certificate issuance time, and resilience to cyberattacks, are analyzed to evaluate the scalability and effectiveness of the proposed solution. The experimental results demonstrate competitive performance, with block creation times averaging 0.85 seconds and attack recovery times under 40 microseconds, comparing favorably to traditional solutions, which typically show latencies ranging from 2ms to 423ms for similar security operations in SCADA and substation networks. These findings reveal the potentials of both blockchain and differential privacy protecting smart grid ecosystems toward security with scalability.